Cozy Up Next to Your Airplane When Visiting Texas

游览德克萨斯时，舒适地坐在你的飞机旁边

Barbie Brunson has been involved with nearly all of the operations at Hicks Airfield (T67) since first learning to fly there in the early 1990s.

自20世纪90年代初首次学习飞行以来，芭比·布伦森几乎参与了希克斯机场（T67）的所有运营。

As Brunson recounts, she has worn “a lot of hats” over the years. One of the more memorable exchanges between her and her husband, Kevin occurred shortly after they purchased the airport’s fuel operations in 1995.

正如布伦森回忆的那样，这些年来她戴过“很多帽子”。她和丈夫凯文之间最难忘的一次交流发生在1995年他们购买机场燃料业务后不久。

“In addition to running the restaurant at Hicks for 15 years, we had this old 1970 Ford fuel truck that held a thousand gallons, with a straight six and a huge steering wheel that was probably bigger than any extra-large pizza that you’d ever order! My husband bought it for me. He said, ‘You’ve got the automated pumps here, and people can buy fuel 24/7. But if you ever got someone that has a larger plane, why don’t you get checked on driving the truck. That way, you can drive to the ramp and fill up their airplanes.”

“除了在希克斯经营餐馆15年之外，我们还有一辆1970年的福特燃料卡车，它能装1000加仑的油，有一个直六缸发动机和一个巨大的方向盘，可能比你点的任何特大号披萨都大！我老公给我买的。他说，‘这里有自动泵，人们可以全天候购买燃料。但是如果你曾经有人有一架更大的飞机，你为什么不在驾驶卡车时接受检查。这样，你就可以开车到停机坪，给他们的飞机加满油。”

“I’m like, ‘I can probably do that!’ I started delivering fuel to the ramp, and pilots loved that service. You might catch me on any given day in the restaurant taking orders or helping put stuff together for food deliveries, to changing out a fuel filter or checking out something with the fuel farm. To possibly even installing a water meter or backflow, because we are the water utility as well,” she said.

“我想，‘我可能能做到！’我开始给停机坪送燃料，飞行员们很喜欢这种服务。你可能会在任何一天看到我在餐馆里接受订单，或者帮助整理送餐的东西，更换燃料过滤器，或者在燃料农场检查一些东西。甚至可能安装水表或回流管，因为我们也是自来水公司，”她说。

The Hangar Lodge’s 45-foot by 50-foot hangar holds a wide number of airplanes, including a Beechcraft Bonanza. [Courtesy: The Hangar Lodge]All of Brunson’s efforts at the airfield mirror that of her initial inspiration in general aviation, her father, Dr. Anthony Ziegler. When she was a girl growing up in rural Missouri, he created a small grass airstrip that became popular within the flying community—primarily due to the communal environment that was cultivated there. His zeal for aviation ultimately transferred to Barbie, whose bubbly personality and can-do attitude are a shining light at Hicks Airfield.

机库小屋的45英尺乘50英尺的机库容纳了大量的飞机，包括一架比奇飞机。【礼貌：机库小屋】布伦森在机场的所有努力都反映了她在通用航空领域的最初灵感，她的父亲安东尼·齐格勒博士。当她还是一个在密苏里州农村长大的女孩时，他创建了一个小型草地简易机场，在飞行社区中很受欢迎——主要是因为那里培养的公共环境。他对航空的热情最终转移到了芭比身上，芭比活泼的个性和积极进取的态度是希克斯机场的一盏明灯。

These skills allowed Brunson to identify and solve a problem that airport visitors frequently had; where to keep their plane and where they should stay themselves.

这些技能使布伦森能够识别并解决机场游客经常遇到的问题；他们的飞机在哪里，他们自己应该呆在哪里。

“Pilots used to call me all the time, since we are the FBO on the field, saying that they are flying into Fort Worth and need a place to keep their airplane for a few days. I didn’t have a hangar for them! I had outside ramp space in a grassy lot just northwest of the restaurant building, but nowhere for them to stay. Then they would ask where the nearest hotel is, and I would help make those arrangements as well,” she explained.

“飞行员过去总是打电话给我，因为我们是现场的FBO，说他们要飞往沃思堡，需要一个地方存放他们的飞机几天。我没有给他们的机库！我在餐厅大楼西北的一片草地上有室外坡道空间，但没有地方让他们呆。然后他们会问最近的酒店在哪里，我也会帮忙安排，”她解释道。

“I told my husband that if we could buy the other half of this duplex hangar [where the couple keep their two aircraft], it would make so much sense, because I could put my own Airbnb in there. That way, when pilots need a place to put their plane, they would have a place to stay right next to their airplane. That’s how The Hangar Lodge started its existence.”

“我告诉我丈夫，如果我们能买下这个复式机库的另一半（这对夫妇存放两架飞机的地方），那就太有意义了，因为我可以把自己的爱彼迎放在那里。这样，当飞行员需要一个地方放置他们的飞机时，他们会有一个地方呆在他们的飞机旁边。机库小屋就是这样开始存在的。”

With a quick sketch in hand, Barbie set out to make the vision of an on-airport short-term rental come to life.

手里拿着一张速写，芭比开始让机场短期租赁的愿景变成现实。

“It took me nearly a year putting the project together, because I GC’d [served as the general contractor] myself. I literally sketched out the idea for The Hangar Lodge on a piece of paper. Then I had my really crafty nephew, who knows how to do all that CAD work, turn it into something with dimensions that the crew could work from. The project really took off from there.”

“我花了将近一年的时间把这个项目放在一起，因为我自己是GC的总承包商。我真的在一张纸上勾画出了机库小屋的想法。然后我让我非常狡猾的侄子，他知道如何做所有的CAD工作，把它变成一个有尺寸的东西，船员可以从它工作。这个项目真的是从那里起飞的。”

The 45-foot by 50-foot hangar is the centerpiece of the building and was purposely designed to accommodate most aircraft that could land on the airport’s 3,740-foot-long asphalt runway. At the rear of the structure is the two-story residential quarters, which boasts two private bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms.

45英尺乘50英尺的机库是该建筑的核心，旨在容纳大多数可以降落在机场3,740英尺长的沥青跑道上的飞机。建筑的后部是两层楼的住宅区，拥有两间私人卧室和两间半浴室。

“You see a little bit of everything and anything out here at Hicks, as far as hangar design and creations. I just decided that when I did my project, I wanted it to be somewhat timeless. And I was thinking a Craftsman style, to me, doesn’t seem dated. I think that it always has a good look and feel. It’s kind of like a homey concept, and that’s why I chose to do that. There’s not another Craftsman-style place that I’ve seen out here. I had a lot of fun with it!”

“你在希克斯这里看到了一点点的一切，就机库的设计和创作而言。我只是决定，当我做我的项目时，我希望它有点永恒。我在想工匠风格，对我来说，似乎并不过时。我认为它总是有一个很好的外观和感觉。这有点像一个家庭的概念，这就是为什么我选择这样做。我在这里没见过工匠风格的地方。我玩得很开心！”

Barbie is proud to report the project has proven successful thus far, with a diverse set of guests having stayed there since opening in December 2019. As positive word about the rental spread, so did questions about using the hangar for alternate purposes.

芭比很自豪地报告说，该项目迄今为止已经证明是成功的，自2019年12月开业以来，已有各种各样的客人入住。随着关于租赁的积极消息传开，关于使用机库用于其他用途的问题也随之传开。

“I think we are kind of like the best-kept secret out there, but slowly word of mouth about it has gotten out. I had intended The Hangar Lodge to be for pilots because I was thinking that people would be flying in, buying fuel from us, maybe eating at our restaurant (Wing It Cafe), and stuff like that. Then it turned into a different direction that I hadn’t been planning on,” Brunson said.

“我认为我们有点像是保守得最好的秘密，但慢慢地，关于它的口碑已经传开了。我本来打算机库小屋是为飞行员准备的，因为我想人们会飞进来，从我们这里购买燃料，也许在我们的餐厅（Wing It Cafe）吃饭，诸如此类的事情。然后它变成了一个不同的方向，我一直没有计划，“布伦森说。

“People would contact me and say that they just saw us advertised on Facebook, Instagram, or wherever and ask if we have ever hosted a wedding, a rehearsal dinner, or a baby shower. I thought that those events could be interesting, so I said, ‘What do you have in mind? Yeah, we can provide all the tables and chairs. We can do this, and we can do that. I let the customer dictate to me what they were looking for, and then I made it happen. Now I have turned into a little wedding planning operation and have had pilots that want to get married in the hangar!”

“人们会联系我，说他们刚刚在Facebook、Instagram或任何地方看到我们的广告，问我们是否举办过婚礼、彩排晚宴或婴儿送礼会。我想那些事件可能很有趣，所以我说，'你有什么想法？是的，我们可以提供所有的桌椅。我们可以做这个，我们可以做那个。我让客户告诉我他们在寻找什么，然后我实现了它。现在我已经变成了一个小婚礼策划行动，并有飞行员，想结婚在机库！”

The living room and kitchen at The Hangar Lodge, which boasts two private bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. [Courtesy: The Hangar Lodge]Brunson doesn’t mince any words, when explaining how enjoyable it’s been to run the “one-of-a-kind lodging destination.” And if it weren’t for another conversation early in her and her husband’s tenure at Hicks Airfield, then she may have never added ‘short-term rental host’ to her hat rack.

The Hangar Lodge酒店的客厅和厨房设有两间私人卧室和两间半浴室。[礼貌：机库旅馆]布伦森毫不掩饰地解释了经营“独一无二的住宿目的地”是多么愉快。如果不是她和丈夫在希克斯机场任职的早期有过另一次谈话，那么她可能永远不会在她的衣帽架上添加“短期出租主机”。

“At the time [1995], there was only one taxiway and probably 30 hangars on the field. That was it. There was literally a cow pasture to the east side of my office, and a barbed wire fence. On occasion, a cow would get loose and get onto the runway. And we would have to chase it back to the farmer’s property next door. Hicks Airfield was out in the middle of nowhere and my husband said, ‘Okay, this area is not going to grow for years, Barbie. This [getting the restaurant] is kind of crazy,” she recalled.

“当时（1995年），球场上只有一条滑行道，可能有30个机库。就是这样我办公室的东边有一个奶牛场，还有一个带刺的铁丝网。有时候，一头牛会松开，跑到跑道上。我们就得把它追回隔壁的农场主。希克斯机场在一个偏僻的地方，我丈夫说，‘好吧，这个地区几年内都不会增长，芭比。这（得到餐厅）有点疯狂，”她回忆道。

“And I said, ‘No. You know what? Build it and they will come! I know people. This area will grow. This airport will get bigger. Let’s just do it.’ I had so much fun with it, and it turned out to be a really good deal.”

“我说，‘不。你知道吗？建造它，他们会来的！我认识人。这个领域将会增长。这个机场会越来越大。我们就这么做吧。”我从中得到了很多乐趣，结果证明这是一笔很好的交易。“